A fascinating psychological thriller.
Five very different students hatch a plot to escape justice when one of them kills their obnoxious professor.
Ivy was once the queen bee of her school but did not use her power wisely and has fallen from grace. Mattie worries that his boyfriend might be drifting away from him. Kinley, daughter of a prominent black politician, always makes straight A’s but has a secret that no one would guess. Smarter-than-he-looks stoner Tyler is on probation but can’t extract himself from his dangerous promise to his brother. Cade, the son of a cold and wealthy Japanese-American businessman, despises his father but shares his explosive temper. (Ivy, Mattie, and Tyler are evidently white.) The five all take the malicious, even sadistic Dr. Stratford’s summer psychology course. When Cade punches him, the professor falls back dead. The five students dispose of the body and then try to keep their parts in his death secret. Suspicions and rivalries develop among them, however, and even though the body has not been found, Kinley and Tyler concoct a plan to save themselves if the others should fall. Morgan weaves her plot together through third-person chapters that alternate focus from teen to teen, keeping their personalities nicely distinct throughout. Some feel guilt and some only fear, but as they weave their ever more entangled web, readers will anticipate how they might become snarled in it themselves.
A fascinating psychological thriller. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: July 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4954-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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